Tag Archives | Congresssional Prayer Caucus

A circulated $1 bill with "In God We Trust" marked with a custom-made stamp

What about church vs. state? Members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus complain about President Obama’s alteration of his use of the “national motto.” David Edwards from The Raw Story reports:

Members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus wrote to President Barack Obama last month to ask that he correct speeches they say disregard the nation’s religious heritage.

The members took specific exception to a speech the president gave in Jakarta, Indonesia on Nov. 10, 2010, where he referred to the US motto as E pluribus unum.

The words are Latin, meaning “Out of many, one.”

“E pluribus unum is not our national motto,” the letter (.pdf) said. “In 1956, Congress passed and President Eisenhower approved the law establishing ‘In God We Trust’ as the official national motto of the United States.”

Obama used the term E pluribus unum in his speech to illustrate that in America, like other nations, “hundreds of millions who hold different beliefs can be united in freedom under one flag.”